Lampard knows the rules. Turn it around quickly or the axe falls
ROMAN WILL ACT… AND TUCHEL FANCIES JOB
THERE i s rarely a good time to have a bad month as Chelsea boss but for once Frank Lampard’s timing has failed him. Eighteen months into his tenure, results are failing, form is misfiring and information is filtering through the corridors of Stamford Bridge that the owner is not satisfied.
Roman Abramovich did not invest more than £200million in a record summer of spending in anticipation of performing no better than last season.
The big signings have not settled well. Timo Werner started encouragingly, faded and now seems utterly devoid of confidence, while there has barely been a flicker from Kai Havertz. The world’s most expensive goalkeeper is a substitute, and marginalised senior players simmer with discontent as marginalised senior players do at a club where the owner is notorious for his lack of patience.
Perhaps more than anything, Thomas Tuchel is fresh from a firing by Paris Saint-Germain.
Tuchel has admirers at Stamford Bridge. The 47-year- old German has been in their sights before and has made it clear he is not interested in taking a break. In short, he fancies the job.
He can boast experience that Lampard cannot, with Borussia Dortmund, developing young players in the confines of a budget, and with PSG, where money was no object but the egos and entourages were.
The lingering question of managerial nous has encumbered Lampard ever since his appointment. It provides the backdrop as every bad result is scrutinised for mistakes. Was it the right team? The right tactics? The right substitutions?
How was his body language? Did he say the right things?
There is no shortcut to experience and Lampard chose not to pack it into his backroom staff. Nor into his team, showing more faith in the youngsters than the veterans. Thus far, to his credit, Lampard has s ummoned a response to every setback and his status as a club legend has bought him time.
There was a dip at this stage of last season. Chelsea lost four out of five in the Premier League, won at Tottenham, i mproved and spluttered again before the lockdown brought respite.
Defeat against Arsenal in the FA Cup final was tough to swallow. To end the season trophyless can be fatal at the Bridge and yet to finish in the top four and qualify for the Champions League after a transfer ban and the sale of Eden Hazard had to go down as a success.
Mitigating circumstances remain: no pre-season, no time to prepare and organise six big signings. Havertz has been hit by a heavy bout of Covid-19, Hakim Ziyech has been prone to injuries.
Abramovich, however, will feel as though his summer spree should have beaten the pandemic. With their ownership structure, Chelsea were able to strike in the transfer market while others were suffering. And others did suffer — no team has sped clear at the top as they have in previous seasons.
Lampard’s team went top with a win against Leeds on December 5 but just four points from the following six games leaves them with nothing to offer in the name of progress. Chelsea have 26 points from 17 games, compared to 29 at the same stage last season. Under Maurizio Sarri, in 2018-19, they took 37 points from the first 17 games, and the fans did not enjoy it so they booed.
In 2017-18, the second season of Antonio Conte, they had 35 points. In Conte’s first season, they had 43 points, were top and on their way to the title.
This season has a different shape to it. Many teams are well matched and the table is congested. There is even the possibility a genuine title race might break out and Chelsea are in the pack.
They are within three points of the top four. Three wins in a week transforms the mood, as Mikel Arteta can testify, although the Christmas and New Year schedule was a chastening experience for Lampard.
His team were f l at against Arteta’s Arsenal on St Stephen’s Day, then ran into Manchester City’s best football of the season.
City, fresh and rested, made Chelsea look ragged and disorganised. Even N’Golo Kante, the very essence of consistency, struggled as the Blues were overwhelmed in midfield.
Not only was Lampard unable to produce a solution but he appears in danger of losing the direction forged in his first season, when the breakthrough of the academy graduates generated a special energy and spirit.
Signings meant to strengthen have t ested his managerial acumen. Apart f r om Olivier Giroud’s eight goals i n eight games, those on the fringes have not stepped up when needed.
He might curse his luck. Arsenal were due a win and City can do this to any opponent, but Lampard knows the rules at Stamford Bridge.
He was there for long enough as a player and benefited from its i nstability when he replaced Sarri, sacked despite qualifying for the Champions League because he bored the players as well as the fans.
There will always be a reason if a reason is required. Lampard knows
there will be a clinical assessment going on at board level.
He knows that regardless of the loyalty of the Chelsea faithful and support in the media, his future will be open to question.
Historically, Abramovich pulls the trigger in mid- season if he fears for the club’s Champions League status.
The last time was when Mourinho was dismissed 16 games into the disastrous third season of his second spell.
Since then, the Russian has made up his mind, lined up a successor and waited until the end of the campaign to change. To wait again might free up other candidates, including the highly prized Julian Nagelsmann of RB Leipzig.
Either way, Lampard knows how this plays out if he cannot turn it around quickly.